Container closure



June 12, 1956 L. B. PLATT, JR

CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed March 29, 1955 INVENTOR. A5575? 5 lQ/W/Je rW/o/wey United States awn.

CONTAINER CLOSURE Lester B. Platt, Jr., Livingston, N. J., assignor to The Sheflield Tube Corporation, New London, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application March 29, 1955, Serial No. 497,516 3 Claims. (Cl. 220-17) The present invention relates to container closures and, more particularly, to such closures which seal the contents of the container until used by the ultimate consumer and which embody structure that enables the consumer to sever a portion thereof to attain access to the contents and to utilize the severed. portion to reclose the container for protection of its unused contents.

While closures of this general type have been proposed heretofore, those which were developed were subject to a number of difficulties and objections. For example, difficulty was encountered in providing means to enable the container reclosing portion to be severed, including proper indication to the ultimate consumer, and difficulty was experienced by the consumer in re closing the container with this portion.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to overcome the foregoing difiiculties and objections by providing a closure which is so constituted and dimensioned that a portion thereof can be readily severed at a predetermined zone and that the separated parts cooperate to form at least a good liquid tight seal to preserve the unused contents of the container.

Another object is to provide such a closure which is adapted for use in connection with a large variety and types of containers.

A further object is to provide such a closure which is simple in construction and economical to manufacture.

Other and further objects will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects are accomplished by providing a container closure having a tubular section or dispensing nozzle terminating in a portion of reduced diameter formed with a closed wall at the free end thereof, and having means on the tubular section positioned inwardly of the reduced portion for indicating a transverse plane or zone in which the section is to be severed and for facilitating such severance, the inner wall of the tubular portion inwardly of the aforementioned means being dimensioned for receiving the reduced portion in close fitting engagement.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a container equipped with a closure in accordance with the present invention, the closure being shown in its unopened condition;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l, but illustrating the closure after being opened and reclosed;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating another form of closure; and

Patented June 12, 1956 Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but illustrating the closure after being opened and reclosed.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing in detail there is shown a container 10, such as a collapsible tube by way of example, having an externally screw-threaded neck 11 formed with a central opening 12; and a closure 14 for sealing the opening.

The closure 14 comprises an internally screw-threaded skirt 15 applied to the neck 11, a cover portion 16 having a central opening 17 in registry with the neck opening 12, and a tubular section or dispensing nozzle 19 extending upwardly from the cover portion with its bore in communication with the openings 12 and 17.

The tubular section 19 terminates in a portion 20 of reduced external diameter, which reduced portion is formed with an end wall 21 at the free or upper end thereof closing oif the bore. This reduced portion may be cylindrical, as shown, or may have a slight taper. The lower end of the portion 20 is formed with a cylindrical or band-like enlargement 22, preferably having a milled or knurled or otherwise roughened surface to facilitate gripping the same.

Since it is desired to sever a portion of the closure to attain access to the contents of the container, means for indicating the plane in which the nozzle section is to be severed are provided just below the enlargement 22. Such a means is illustrated herein as an annular groove or recess 24 which has the additional advantage of making it easier to cut the closure by reason of the reduced wall thickness at this zone.

As shown in Fig. 2, when the portion 20 and the band 22, have been severed from the closure and it is desired to reseal the opening thus provided in the section 19 at its upper end, the severed part is inverted and the pluglike portion 20 is inserted into the bore of the section 19, the bore having a cylindrical inner wall 25, extending inwardly from the opening to facilitate snug reception of the plug-like portion 20.

Since the portion 20 is hollow to its end wall 21, it is yieldable like a cork or rubber plug and is compressed upon insertion thereof into the bore portion 25. An additional advantage can be attained by forming the closure of rubber-like material including natural or synthetic rubber compositions or plastic having the characteristics of polyethylene type plastics, whereby both the plug-like portion 20 and the wall 25 can yield to provide an even better seal for preserving the remaining contents of the container.

In Figs. 3 and 4, another embodiment of the invention is illustrated, wherein like parts are designated by like reference characters. The closure shown herein is substantially identical to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, except that an external, continuous or interrupted annular rib or bead 26 is provided at the upper end of the plug-like portion 20 and an internal, annular groove or recess 27 is provided on the lower end of the wall 25.

Upon severing the upper part of the closure and inserting the reversed plug 20 in the manner as previously indicated, the rib 26 is sprung or force fitted into the groove 27 to more positively lock the plug-like portion against displacement and thereby assure proper resealing of the container.

While the closure has been illustrated as a separate element adapted for securement to the container, the present invention contemplates that the same may be formed integrally with the container as a one-piece unit in cases where the container is formed of metal or rubber-like material which enables the plug-like portion to be severed and inserted as aforementioned.

The plug-like portion 20 by being hollow and open at its upper end (Figs. 2 and 4) may serve as a small receptacle for any desired purpose.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides a novel and useful closure of the type indicated herein which is adapted to securely reseal the container and is so retained against accidental displacement.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matters are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A container closure of rubber-like material having a tubular section terminating in a portion of reduced diameter formed with a closed Wall at a free end thereof, an annular external recess formed in said section inwardly of said portion for indicating a transverse plane in which said section is to be severed, and an annular band between said portion and said recess to facilitate gripping the part of said section to be severed, the inner wall of said tubular section inwardly of said external recess being dimensioned for receiving said portion in close fitting engagement, said portion having an annular external bead adjacent said end wall, and said inner wall 4 of said section having an annular recess spaced inwardly of said first mentioned recess into which said head is adapted to be sprung.

2. A container closure having a tubular section terminating in a portion of reduced diameter formed with a closed wall at a free end thereof, an annular external bead adjacent said end wall, and said tubular section being formed with an internal, annular recess spaced downwardly from said portion for receiving said bead upon severing said portion from said tubular section.

3. A closure according to claim 2, formed of rubberlike material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 11,382 Record Nov. 7, 1893 329,920 Luedemann Nov. 10, 1885 906,157 Porter Dec. 8, 1908 996,330 Haines June 27, 1911 1,080,747 Buckley Dec. 9, 1913 1,081,555 Russell Dec. 16, 1913 1,891,826 McGinnis Dec. 20, 1932 2,295,865 Rentschler Sept. 15, 1942 2,571,542 Collins Oct. 16, 1951 

